


Holt, M. "An Anthropological Documentation of the Greater Universe." (2217).

by DYlogger



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Comedy, Epistolary, Gen, Holt family reunion, M/M, Matt-Centric, Multimedia, Space Pirates, Tone Whiplash, Zarkonquerer: the Musical, prison fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-21
Updated: 2017-01-08
Packaged: 2018-09-10 23:23:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8943583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DYlogger/pseuds/DYlogger
Summary: Or: Matt Holt and the Prisoners' Liberation Crew.Matt meets Nyma in prison, reads the news, and breaks a bunch of rules.  His life spirals from there.





	1. Matt Learns About Communication

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, and welcome to _Matt's Research Log!_
> 
> The plan was to have this fic complete before I started posting, but I realised that I'm going to have to start posting now if I want to get this out at a reasonable pace before season 2 starts (you know, before canon Matt josses this fic forever). I've written about 18k so far (out of probably 30K?), and about 13k of that is in chronological order and ready to go. I plan on posting a few thousand words a week and finish writing and posting before season 2 but uh. Who knows how good I am at meeting realistic goals? I haven't written a longfic since I was like, twelve.
> 
> If I don't manage to finish this before January 20, may I sleep in limbo as the failure that I am. (Read this as: I'll still finish, but we'll all have to live with any and all mischaracterisation.)
> 
> Thanks to [Kat](http://bennygaycko.tumblr.com) for betaing and [Pity](http://archiveofourown.org/users/doctor_worm) for cheerleading. :D
> 
> (Disclaimer: I don't own Voltron. This is a fan project written for funsies.)

**_Matt’s Prison Log: Day 400_ **

_ I have a new cellmate; her name is Nyma! She’s perky, but doesn’t seem too talkative, except I can never tell because nobody speaks English anyway.  (She speaks Common, but also Galran and possibly another language...?)  She was assigned to the appliances factory with me. _

\--

Matt is eating a food bar when a guard brings her to his cell.

“Welcome to your dormitory,” says the guard, “get used to it.”  Matt tunes out the rest of his spiel - he’s heard it before.  He’s had a few previous cellmates, all of whom have either been released to the Coliseum or moved to workstations offsite this prison.

The prisoner is an alien, but that’s not a surprise considering that Matt is, well, in space.  She’s an off-yellow colour, with flaps of skin extending from her head and her wide, floppy limbs.  Her skin blends into the dirty beige of her rough prison scrubs, and her pointed ears twitch when the guard throws her to the back of the cell - which isn’t far, considering this cell is no more than four metres wide.

“Dormitory, my ass,” she scoffs. “This is prison.  And you don’t have to manhandle me!” she calls out.  And now the guard is gone out the door, along with the translation collar that allowed Matt to understand what was being said.  The prisoner pulls herself up and sits on the empty cot.  Matt stares at her unabashedly, still chewing on his bite of food bar.  She stares back, and starts to talk.  

“My name is Nyma,” she says in the language that Matt has come to recognise as Common.

Matt isn’t good at Common; he’s only picked up a little from the minimal interactions he’s had with other prisoners.  There’s a universal translation transmitter in the mess hall where all the prisoners group together once a day for breakfast, and all the prison guards wear translators on their persons.  

“I’m a-” and then she says something that Matt doesn’t have the vocabulary to understand, though he does catch “prisoner of war”.  He nods anyway, and Nyma finishes her introduction.  Nyma cocks her head, waiting for his response.  Matt holds up a finger, the universal hand gesture for  _ wait _ , and swallows his bite of food.  

“My name is Matt,” he says,  “I don’t speak Common well. I come from a small blue planet called -” he stumbles across  _ Earth, _ “-and I’m also a prisoner of war.”  He then takes another bite of his food bar, carefully chews, and swallows.  It goes down roughly, texture grainy against his throat.

“Want some?” says Matt in English, holding out his half-eaten food bar.

\--

So Matt discovers that Nyma doesn’t shower.  The prisoners get access to the communal showers twice a day - once in the morning and once at night.  It’s been a week, and while Matt showers once every two days at night (it’s not worth dealing with the crowded shower rooms every day), Nyma hasn’t showered at all.  He knows this because they spend almost all of their time together.  This isn’t on purpose, but they end up seeing each other a lot because they’re cellmates and have also been assigned to the same on-site work station: a mechanics factory.

During the third month of his imprisonment at this prison, Matt started swiping bits of scrapped circuits and taking them back to his room.  He built a tablet-style machine with a small screen and a stylus that contained a program that he used to count the days since he’d been kidnapped from Kerberos (it had been about a year and five months) and log his activity.  He also started a side project of cataloguing a list of the glyphs that he’d seen around the prison, and he’d figured out that everything that had a label was labelled in both Galran script (logographic -  _ fuck this shit he’ll figure it out later _ ) and Common script underneath (alphabetic - thank fucking quiznak; he figured out the alphabet and some phonemes but he is still trying to figure out how the syntax works).  

Laying on his back underneath his bedcovers to hide from the cameras, Matt gets lost in staring at his tablet and thinking about the days past.  His father was taken to a work camp based on detail-intensive labour, and Shiro... well...  Matt can’t help holding on to hope.  He refuses to believe Shiro is anything other than still fighting.  Matt has heard stories throughout the prison about how the dark horse who rose to become a champion suddenly stopped participating in gladiator matches, and he doesn’t think about it. He doesn’t think about how Shiro pushed him away from the arena, and he absolutely doesn’t think about how Shiro might be gone now because of him, because  _ he’s not, dammit _ .  One day, they’ll find each other again and he’ll run into Shiro’s arms and they’ll kiss, like in a fairy tale or something.  Look. He's in prison.  He's allowed to have ridiculously sappy thoughts to avoid crippling depression.  He doesn't want to think about the idea that he'll never see his family aga--

Instead, Matt thinks about the stories he hears about the revered Emperor Zarkon, saviour of the universe and protector of the Empire, but the incredulous scoffs from the other prisoners in the mess hall at these claims are louder.

Suddenly, the covers are pulled off his head and down to his waist.  Matt’s darkness-accustomed eyes blink, and Nyma’s head comes into focus.

“So. What’cha doing, roomie?” asks Nyma, and the perfectly-enunciated, clear English rings through his head.

“Dude!” says Matt, quickly shoving the tablet under the covers and then the covers back over his chest. “I’m uh. Not hiding contraband, that’s for sure.”  And then he does a double take.  “Did you  _ steal a translator _ ?”

“Oh, this?” Nyma points at the large collar, tucked under her arm discreetly.  Clearly, the guard she stole the translator from had a very wide neck.  “This is for you!  So I can actually talk to you because somehow, you don’t speak any of the  _ seventeen  _ most common languages in the Galra Empire that I tried talking to you in.”

“Oh, well, excuse me for being on the first crew to travel beyond my planet’s solar system!”

“See if I give the translator to you now,” Nyma miffs teasingly. 

“Are you  _ nuts _ ?” whispers Matt frantically. “I can’t get caught with illegal contraband that you stole from the prison!”

Nyma points at Matt’s tablet, which is much, much smaller than the translation collar.

“That’s  _ different _ ,” says Matt. “That’s small enough for me to actually  _ hide _ . But,” he relents, “I suppose I won’t say no to using it for a bit while I learn Common.”

Nyma beams. “Now, before I give this to you,” she says, and of course there would be a catch, “you have to agree to do something for me.”

“I’ll hear you out,” he says, “but I’d like to not die while in prison.  I do have a family I’d like to see again.”

Nyma pushes her arms underneath the covers and pulls a flap of skin open on her right forearm.  Wet discharge of a mucus-like consistency leaks from the cavity revealed by the skin flap.  There’s suddenly a strong, sharp, stench, but Nyma is careful to not get the discharge on Matt’s sheets.  She reaches inside her arm cavity and pulls out a metal box and gingerly wipes it off on her trousers.  She hands it to Matt, who takes it gingerly.

“Holy shit,” says Matt, staring at her forearm.  “That’s both gross and cool.  Not that you’re gross, or anything!  Just-”

“Yeah, I know,” grumbles Nyma, pulling her arms out of the sheets and sitting on top of Matt’s stomach and wow, that’s a little intimidating-- “but now that this piece of junk isn’t in my smuggler’s cavity anymore, I can finally shower.”  Nyma gestures at the metal box.  “This what I managed to smuggle off my ship when I was captured; it’s the head of my in-ship cyber unit, Beezer.”  Nyma lowers her voice and leans closer to Matt’s face.  “I need to get a message out to my partner, and you seem to be pretty good at this impromptu crafting thing.  Beezer’s head should contain the parts to make a small communications device.  Can you do that?”

“Sure,” he says, “but you’ll have to help me learn the language.  I’m not going to be able to keep the translator forever, so I need to figure out Common for myself.”

“Then we have ourselves a deal!” Nyma grins a little manically, and hands both Beezer’s head and the translation collar to Matt.  Matt wraps the collar around his waist.

“Good,” says Matt.  “Now - can you get off me? You’re kind of heavy.”  

Nyma scowls lightly, but swings herself off Matt and, for the first time since her arrival, grabs her prison-mandated towel and heads to the showers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) Translators work as such: anyone in a room that contains a universal translation device can understand what is being said. They're located in the mess hall, on Galra guards, and most ships. (Also, in the Castle of Lions and the Paladins' suits, but that's probably never going to be relevant.)
> 
> 2) Chapters are going to start short and get longer (unless I fuck up). Since posting is going to be about 3000 words a week, I'm going to start with two chapters a week and go from there.


	2. Matt Learns About the News

**_Matt’s Prison Log: Day 420 (20 days since Nyma’s arrival)_ **

_ The linguistic histories of Galra and Common make a lot of sense to me now that I’m finally conversational in Common.  See -- Common’s been around for ages as a weird conglomeration of the seventeen major languages, which is why it’s been a pain in the ass to learn.  Galra is the official language of the Empire, so Common has more Galra influence these days.  Common’s still a thing, though, because languages are hard to wipe out and the phonetic qualities of Common’s written alphabet make literacy a lot easier across regions. _

_ But yes. I think I’ve finally got a good handle on Common after months and months of not being able to decipher the sounds associated with any of the glyphs, and then two weeks with a translator and Beezer’s written language database.  I also finished adapting Beezer with the tablet with a built-in router. :D _

_ That’s all the projects I had on my plate. What the hell do I do now? _

\--

The two weeks it takes for Matt to learn Common is about the same amount of time it takes for Nyma to explain to him how communications networks work and for him to figure out how to connect to it from a prison cell.  By the time he finishes both projects, he realises he’s finished both his and Nyma’s prison side projects.  (He also grudgingly makes Nyma put the translator back before it’s noticed missing, which freaking sucks because it was so very convenient.)

Nyma gets a first go once he’s got Beezer up and running.  She has to climb into Matt’s bed and under his covers to use the tablet, away from the watchful eye of the prison cameras.  Matt asks her if she wants him to proofread it, and she says yes, and - 

“I can’t tell if there’s anything wrong with it,” he says.

“You’re terrible at Common,” says Nyma, but sends her message anyway.

“Well, how the hell am I supposed to get better? It’s not like I have any literature to look at to improve,” he says, and then. Oh. He literally just carved themselves a connection to the  _ space Internet _ ; there are  _ all the things _ for him to look at.

Nyma looks at him.  “Is your planet not technologically advanced enough to have an online communications network like this?”

“No, nono,” says Matt. “I’m familiar with the concept of the Internet.  Could you, uh, direct me to space Wikipedia?”

Nyma keeps staring at him.  Right, he can’t just keep prefacing everything with  _ space _ and expect Nyma to understand.

“Um, is there a database of collectively user-collated information about the universe?  Oh, or the news?  Where should I go to look at news?”

Nyma directs him to both space Wikipedia and the two accessible news outlets from within Galra territory.  It turns out that space Wikipedia is terribly managed because nobody wants to write public wiki pages that would just end up being censored, and the two Empire-sanctioned online news outlets are similarly filled with propaganda venerating the Empire.  ( _ “The Galra Empire is space Old China,” _ Matt groans, flopping down face-first on his bed and pushing Nyma out of it.  Nyma then asks him what Old China is and Matt stumbles through a crass explanation of the historical position of Old China and Internet censorship before it joined the Earth Superfederation.)

“There’s always the pirates’ news forum if you want semi-reliable user commentary on the news,” says Nyma.  “It’s mostly for people like me to get information on target territories, but you might like it.”

Matt props his head up from where it was previously smothered by his pillow.

\--

[Entries listed from earliest to latest]

**HEADLINE: New Magitech timepieces to hit shelves in both Galra and open territories [Empire News]  
** [29 comments]

\--

**HEADLINE: What is Quintessence? [Empire News]  
** [43 comments]

Comment (anonymous):  
“just an urban myth” lmao okay, emnews

> Reply  **(anrypogi)** :  
>  “druidic celebratory magic” BUT WHAT IS THE TRUTH, EMNEWS
> 
> Reply  **(10gcabin)** :  
>  how even would zarkon have stayed alive for so long?
> 
> Reply  **(vrepitsa)** :  
>  Uh because Lord Zarkon is a GOD
> 
> Reply (anonymous):  
>  GTFO.
> 
> _ [16 more replies; truncated] _
> 
> Reply  **(vrepitsa)** :  
>  **_HE’S THE FUCKING DIVINE EMPEROR AND YOUR MOM IS UGLY_ **
> 
> Reply  **(10gcabin)** :  
>  I’m an orphan, you buttnut!
> 
> _ [replies frozen] _

\--

**HEADLINE: Last known Balmera dies from Balmeran over-mining [The Nationalist]  
** [115 comments]

Comment from  **(anrypogi)** :  
rip all the balmerans

> Reply (anonymous):  
>  What do you mean?
> 
> Reply **(anrypogi)** :  
>  they’re dead, bro. without the balmera’s life force, there’s nothing for the balmerans to live on
> 
> Reply (anonymous):  
>  AYRT  
>  Aw, no. That’s a shame. :(
> 
> Comment from (anonymous):  
>  I suppose that empties the area of sentries!  Safe travels if you’re in the area, everyone.
> 
> Reply  **(00x0E2)** :  
>  More like get ready for a free-for-all between all the pirates in the area.
> 
> Reply from  **(stabbalicious)** :  
>  literally half of us here are pirates.  COME AT ME, BROS
> 
> _ [12 more replies] _

Comment from  **(10gcabin)** :  
the balmera isn’t dead. 

> Reply (anonymous):  
>  Doesn’t a Balmera’s body disappear when it dies?
> 
> Reply (anonymous):  
>  Can confirm the Balmera lives.  
>  Source: I’m a Balmeran.
> 
> Reply  **(anrypogi)** :  
>  lmao troll harder  
>  if the planet is gone, then double rip to the balmeran corpses floating around space
> 
> Reply (anonymous):  
>  AYRT  
>  Insensitive! >:(
> 
> Reply  **(00x0E2)** :  
>  I don’t know about the Balmera’s body disappearing.  I was in the sector and the planet was definitely still there.  There were no Galra sentries, so they’re definitely no longer mining the Balmera.
> 
> Reply from (anonymous):  
>  Aren’t you in jail, x0E?
> 
> _ [49 more replies] _
> 
> _ [replies frozen] _

\--

**HEADLINE: Ex-military whistleblower escapes containment; wanted for GAC [The Nationalist]  
** [303 comments]

Comment from (anonymous):  
GOOD JOB BRO

> Comment from (anonymous):  
>  Hey x0E, want to tell us where you are? I could use the money.
> 
> Reply  **(00x0E2)** :  
>  No.
> 
> Reply (anonymous):  
>  LOL ROASTED
> 
> Reply ( **scandal_mod** ):  
>  Congratulations, x0E, and a preemptive thank you for the bounty.
> 
> Reply  **(00x0E2)** :  
>  No problem.  Best of luck hunting me down.

Comment from  **(00x0E2)** :  
I have partial floor plans for the command centre and more information about quintessence.  Uploaded here [URL].

> Reply from (anonymous):  
>  Why are you sharing them here?  We literally want to capture you.
> 
> Reply from  **(00x0E2)** :  
>  This forum, at its core, believes in open, uncensored commentary.  That’s more than can be said for the news.  I’m a fugitive either way.
> 
> Reply from (anonymous):  
>  The link doesn’t work anymore.  Also, do you have a copy of the original leaks?
> 
> Reply from  **(00x0E2)** :  
>  Message me for the new information.  Regrettably, I no longer have a copy of the original leaks.
> 
> Reply from  **(10gcabin)** :  
>  messaged, x0E.  if u want them, I still have a (marked-up) copy of the original leaks.

\--

**HEADLINE: Whistleblower leaks contained; deemed minimally troublesome [The Nationalist]  
** [146 comments]

\--

**HEADLINE: Opening night of** **_Zarkonquerer: the Musical_ ** **a critical success [Empire News]  
** [122 comments]

Comment from  **(v0r3tr0n)** :  
okay but propaganda aside,, who else ships Emperor Zarkon/the Fallen Altean King???

> Reply  **(vantasy)** :  
>  ME HOLY SHIT
> 
> _ [23 more replies; truncated] _
> 
> Reply  **(10gcabin)** :  
>  king alfor would never!
> 
> Reply  **(vrepitsa)** :  
>  Lord Zarkon would never!

\--

When Matt looks up, he knocks his head against Nyma’s.  Nyma is leaning over his shoulder, staring at the screen.  She’s close -  _ way too close _ .

“Sorry!” says Matt. “But jeez - personal space!”

Nyma  _ hmms _ , but moves out of the way.  “I didn’t know I missed the  _ Zarkonquerer _ shows,” she says. “I have to get out of here soon. That reward on the whistleblower’s head isn’t going to claim itself.”

“You’re a bounty hunter?” asks Matt, yawning.  “I thought you were a prisoner of war.” It must be late; he hears the footsteps of Sentry, the guard assigned to his section, walking down the corridor outside their cell.  He tucks Beezer into a loose brick in the wall without getting out from under the covers.  He then gets out of bed, pulls his ponytail undone, undresses, hangs his uniform over the barely-there footboard of the cot, and gets back under the covers.

“I’m usually a pirate, but it’s a long story,” says Nyma, also getting undressed and into her own cot, “but it’s almost lights out.  I’ll tell you some other time.”

“Okay,” says Matt, pulling the covers over himself. “Good night, Nyma.”  

Sentry stops by their room, peers in the window on the door, and taps his baton against their door once, twice, three times.  Matt closes his eyes and falls asleep to the Sentry’s footsteps fading down the corridor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) Space LJ is inspired by real LJ.  
> 2) Let me know if there are any legibility problems with the current formatting. :O


	3. Matt Learns About Nyma

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can see, I'm a waffly fuck when it comes to titles. Oop.

**_Matt’s Prison Log: Day 428 (8 days since gaining access to space Internet)_ **

_ It’s been ages since I last saw Dad and Shiro, and it’s been ages since I was put in prison.  But I have the news and potential communication with other people now on a forum, so it’s better.  I also have partial access to REALISTIC SCIENCE FICTION space media!!  I really want to see  _ Zarkonquerer _ now, damn. _

_ There’s also this substance -- quintessence -- that keeps being mentioned.  I can’t trust what hte the news media says because apparently a bunch of it is an outright lie, but nobody else seems to have decent observation skills in this damn universe, so I can’t rely on  _ any _ secondhand information at all! _

_...All this reading is probably bad for my eyes, especially since I don’t have my glasses anymore.  I probably should have had laser eye surgery done while I had the chance. _

\--

“Scoot over,” says Nyma one day, climbing into Matt’s bed beside him and pulling the covers over them.  “I want to read the news too.”

“Sure,” says Matt.  He moves over to give Nyma more room, but they’re still fairly cramped.  “This, uh, isn’t uncomfortable or weird for you?”  Matt’s upper body is squished against the wall and propped somewhat upright on his left elbow, and he has to wrap his right arm around Nyma’s back to fit her body on the cot and under the blankets.  Nyma looks at him as if he had grown a second head (which, in space, might not have been that hard to believe).  

“No,” she says. “I’m not interested in sex or romance, if that’s what you’re asking.  My species is mostly asexual.”

“Oh thank god,” says Matt, relaxing his arm behind Nyma and tucking her closer.  “I’m gay, just so you know.”  He’s still uncomfortable, though; his cot wasn’t made for two.

“My species has six vaginas,” continues Nyma, ignoring Matt’s declaration.  “The few times we have sex to procreate, we get pregnant sixfold so that we can have as little sex as possible.”

“You’re fucking with me,” says Matt.

Nyma snickers, and Matt feels her shake against his side.  “Hell yeah, I am!  You look horrified.  What if I really did have six vaginas, though?  You should learn to be more open-minded, you’re in multi-species territory.  You don’t want to piss off anyone in prison, after all!”

Matt sulks, and Nyma giggles harder.  “Aw, come on, Matt.  It was funny!”

“Yeah, a little,” chuckles Matt.

“I do have six body cavities that I find are perfect for stealing things, though,” says Nyma.  “One in each forearm and one in each head protrusion.  You remember when I smuggled Beezer’s head into prison?”

“Oh, I see,” says Matt.  “Are you asexual, though?  And do you smuggle things around often?”

“Mostly yes to the first question,” she says, “and definitely yes to the second one!”

Matt reaches for the screen, opens up his logbook, and visibly, in front of Nyma, adds into today’s entry:

_ I learned that Nyma has six body cavities that look like vaginas and behave like vaginas but are not vaginas.  They are perfect for stealing things _ .

“Wow,” she says.  She grabs Beezer and exits out of Matt’s logbook.

“Any news from Rolo?”  

There hasn’t been any replies, even though Nyma has been sending messages every day.

“No,” she says.  “I was caught after we split up to avoid Galra capture, and I guess he’s been caught too.”

“I’m sorry,” says Matt.

Nyma shrugs, then reaches over and flips open the link to the forum.

\--

**HEADLINE:** **_Zarkonquerer: the Musical_ ** **releases a new toy line of action figures [Empire News]  
** [147 comments]

Comment from (anonymous):  
tldr: lots of figures because Zarkonquerer is popular. available figures include: Lord Zarkon, commander sendak, druid haggar, & voltron.  location sets include: empire central command, the castle of lions (collapsible), & the druid homebase.

> Reply (anonymous):  
>  There’s a Voltron figure??
> 
> Reply (anonymous):  
>  Well, the army has to crush  _ somebody _ .  Note how the Castle of Lions is also collapsible.
> 
> Reply (anonymous):  
>  Why even is it called the castle of lions?
> 
> Reply  **(10gcabin):  
>  ** the lions are housed in the castle; thus it’s called the castle of lions.
> 
> Reply (anonymous):  
>  that makes no fucking sense, asswipe

Comment from  **(v0r3tr0n):  
** I cant believe there’s no dead altean king figure  
how the heck else am I supposed to make him and zarkon kiss???

> Reply (anonymous):  
>  voltron/zarkon is the superior ship anyway
> 
> Reply  **(vrepitsa)** :  
>  Excuse you?  Zarkon/Sendak is clearly the best ship
> 
> Comment from (anonymous):  
>  is it just me, or are Zarkonquerer action figures a really bad idea?
> 
> Reply  **(anrypogi)** :  
>  i definitely agree with you, esp from a marketing pov.  zarkonquerer is p kid-friendly but it’s not like kids rush out to buy toys from musicals.  plus, the musical theatre crowd tends to lean toward adults
> 
> Reply  **(vrepitsa):  
>  ** I can make Zarkon and Sendak kiss and that’s all I need.  Together, they’ll make the Galra Empire great! >:(
> 
> Reply (anonymous):  
>  **@anrypogi  
> ** 1) parents buy their kids lots of shit  
>  2) zarkon toys will instill a sense of nationalism in kids, which is obvs endgame goals for this line  
>  3) uh have you seen the number of parents who brought their kids to see zarkonquerer?
> 
> Reply  **(anrypogi):  
>  ** i didn’t see zarkonquerer bc it’s a stupid as shit piece of propaganda - thats why tickets were free (don’t fucking come at me for that  **@vrepitsa** i dont need your bullshit today)
> 
> Reply  **(10gcabin):  
> ** @ the anon who replied to  **@anrypogi  
> ** 1) these figures are priced too highly for the average person to buy.  
>  2) the only people who would buy these toys are already strongly nationalist.  more nationalism being encouraged on top of already-blind nationalism is dangerous.
> 
> Reply  **(00x0E2):  
>  ** I strongly urge people to not buy the  _ Zarkonquerer  _ figures.
> 
> Reply  **(vrepitsa):  
>  ** Lord Zarkon is great, you fucking traitor! >:(
> 
> But  **@10gcabin** is right: people like him and  **@anrypogi** aren’t going to want buy the toys and develop the righteous love they should have for our lord and protector  >:(
> 
> Reply  **(stabbalicious):  
> ** somebody’s going to dress up as Voltron bc of these figures and destroy a city centre or something  
>  calling it now
> 
> Reply (anonymous):  
>  inb4 the Voltron figures sell out at the highest rates hahahahaha

\--

**HEADLINE: Who is Voltron? [Empire News]  
** [262 comments]

\--

“Eugh,” says Nyma when they scroll down to that headline, and she clicks in to leave a comment way down on the post.

“What did some old myth do to you?” asks Matt jokingly.

“One, Voltron isn’t a myth,” says Nyma bitterly, “and two, Voltron is part of the reason I’m here, and part of the reason Rolo is probably in another jail.”  She ducks her head away.  “Rolo is my family, you know?  My partner in crime and rebellion and life.”

“Yeah,” says Matt wistfully, “We’re all prisoners of war here. It sucks.” 

He isn’t sure what Nyma did to warrant imprisonment, but Matt knows what it’s like to be separated from family.  

\--

Comment from  **(10gcabin):  
** voltron is real. #voltronisreal

> Reply (anonymous):  
>  sure, conspiracy theorist
> 
> Reply (anonymous):  
>  LMAO@the hashtag  
>  Nice try dude
> 
> Reply (anonymous):  
>  I mean Voltron was probably real back in the days of Altea during the height of the rebellion?  It’s unlikely Voltron is still around though.
> 
> Reply (anonymous):  
>  Can confirm Voltron is real and around.  Voltron is the reason I’m in jail (and commenting anon), but Voltron is going to save us all.
> 
> Reply  **(10gcabin):  
>  ** what happened? :O

\--

“What exactly did happen to land you here?” asks Matt.  “How did you meet Voltron?”

“Voltron’s return is a sign of the first big rebellion in a while,” says Nyma, “so naturally, the Empire wants Voltron stopped.  Rolo and I tried to steal a ship from the Castle of Lions for a reward. Voltron stopped us and left us with nothing to show, and Galra Commander Prorok thought we were trying to con them.  He labelled us an enemy of the state and threw us here.”

“You totally deserve to be in here,” says Matt.

“I know,” says Nyma. “But Voltron - Voltron inspired us. Rolo and I are going to try our hand at the independent rebellion thing once we get out of prison.  What about you?  How did you land in prison?”

“I’m from a planet that hasn’t even made contact with planets other than our own,” Matt says.  “I was on a team with my dad and boyfriend-” and Matt explains the mission to Kerberos, their capture, his immediate separation from his father, Shiro’s sacrifice in the arena, and his own immediate subsequent relocation to this prison when Shiro shoved him down. 

“I can only hope my dad is alive somewhere in a universe I’m not at all familiar with,” he admits, throat choking up in response to saying the words out loud for the first time, “and Shiro - I don’t think he’s alive after what he did for me in the arena.”

“I’m sorry,” says Nyma, watching Matt come close to tears and getting out of his bed.  “That was a lot for a day.  I think it might be time for us to get some sleep.”

“Right,” says Matt, pulling out the piece of string keeping his ponytail together, and lightly stretching.  “One more post, and then I’ll go to bed.”

\--

**HEADLINE: Recording device in new Magitech time are to log errors, say representative [Empire News]  
** [29 comments]

Comment from (anonymous):  
lol I like how nobody ever cares about the Magitech news

> Reply (anonymous):  
>  Haha it’s because half the illegal things we do are for the empire so it’s okay if they monitor us
> 
> Reply  **(vrepitsa):  
> ** they’re not monitoring us though; they’re logging errors  
>  do you guys even read the news?
> 
> Reply (anonymous):  
>  Do you even have critical thinking skills?
> 
> Reply (anonymous):  
>  today's been a big news day for all of us  
>  i think its just better if we just all  
>  go to bed  
>  shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh


	4. Matt Learns About Insubordination

**_Matt’s Prison Log: Day 432_ **

_ The news is still as unreliable as ever, but the commentary from people with perspective - particularly people not in jail - makes it bearable.   _

_ Here’s the thing about the Galra Empire that makes no sense to me: what is it about the system or the cultural philosophy or whatever that makes the most INEFFICIENT people the most successful?  Somehow EVERY INDUSTRY has that one company within the Empire that pretty much has a monopoly on everything within that industry; not by government ordinance, but by actual popularity.  (I mean, I’m sure non-Galra enterprises exist, but I can’t very much observe those, can I?)  There are small-scale competitors, sure, but they’re practically negligible. _

_ See: Magitech - apparently incompetent but wildly popular.  See: whatever system that’s in charge for laundering these prison uniforms.  See: the UNNECESSARY PURPLE LIGHTS.  Why the fuck are all these lights purple?  Purple is the worst colour to see the world in! _

_ Overall, I’m learning about the Galra Empire and federal espionage and the universe, and I want to see more of it.  (The last thing, that is.)  I want to find Dad and maybe even Shiro and complete astropaleontological missions.  I want to build all the things and explore all the things and I can’t do that from within these cell walls.  It’s not enough. _

\--

The first thing that Matt does when he wakes up today is put on a freshly laundered prison uniform that had been pushed through the door slot by the prison guards over the night.  Laundry day is every two weeks, and Matt always looks forward to the day where he can strip off his weeks-old uniform and feel relatively clean.  He’s not the worst-smelling person in the prison, but Matt is used to more of a frequent hygiene routine.  Beside him, Nyma stirs at hearing him wake up.

Matt makes it a point to treat laundry days as good days, so the second thing he does today is get up and walk to the mess hall, which has a large window that bathes the tables with the bright morning starlight that is just peeking over the horizon.  On his way down the corridor, he waves uselessly at Sentry, who had dozed off.  Matt is an early riser and usually the first one out to breakfast, so it’s not a surprise that he’s the first one in the mess hall.  He sits and basks in the mild heat emitted by the light shining through the window as he eats his morning rations and stares  outside at the rocky surface and the purple-and-red sky.  A Galra guard on patrol walks across Matt’s field of vision through the window frame.   _ Damn _ , he misses the fresh air.

Soon, other people start coming into the mess hall for breakfast, so Matt heads back to his room.  When he gets back, he sees Nyma looking disappointedly at Beezer’s screen and typing a message.  Matt makes his bed, a force of habit imbued into him by his mother, and then removes the brick leading to the wall cavity that he keeps Beezer in.  

“We’ll see you later today, dude,” says Matt.

“See you later,” echoes Nyma, and she and Matt head off to work.

The mechanics assembly factory is sorted into five tables, where workers at each table do a different thing within the assembly line.  The tables are unofficially sorted by language - Matt doesn’t understand them, but he can hear the difference in sound quality.  The workers in the last table of the line, for example, speak a language with a sharp, nasal quality, and the workers in the mid-assembly table speak a language that is highly rhythmic and sounds to depend on cadence and pattern.

Matt sits at the table that deals with the initial sorting of parts: the Common table.  Or rather, the table of people-who-barely-talk-to-each-other (which  _ sucks _ , because Matt really wants to practice speaking).  Work is boring and unfulfilling, but there’s a collective unspoken understanding of doing the least amount of work possible because  _ we’re not even getting paid for this _ .  Matt can’t stop being extra twitchy today, though - he really misses being outside and having fresh air and daylight.

Soon enough, it’s lunch, and Matt and Nyma head back to their cells to collect their midday food bar rations.  While morning breakfast rations are served relatively freshly in the mess hall, food is brought to their rooms for lunch and dinner.  After they grab the food bars that were pushed through the door slot, they head back toward the workroom where they usually eat lunch in silence.  Matt is about to turn right as usual when Nyma grabs his arm.

“Wait,” she says. “Let’s go this way instead.”  

Nyma pulls Matt to the left into a dark part of the corridor that ends with a heavy, unlabelled, windowless metal door.  She lets go for a moment to pull open a flap of skin on her left arm to reveal a cavity similar to the one she smuggled Beezer into the prison in.  Nyma pulls out a ring of keycards and unlocks the door with one of them.  The door slides open to reveal another door, this time labelled ISO above the word RESTRICTED, and Nyma unlocks that one too.  Once they get through the doors, Nyma slips the keyring back into her arm cavity.

“Are you ever going to explain what we're doing?” says Matt.

“Just come on!” says Nyma.

The corridor on the other side of the door is highly shadowed with a tall, sloped ceiling and dimly lit with waist-high electrical torches that emit violet light.  Individual doors are scattered on each side of the hallway.  Some of the windows emit purple or yellow light, but Nyma doesn’t stop dragging Matt along the corridor for him to get a closer look.

Matt finds himself pulled into a run, gasping for breaths as he struggles to keep up with the fast pace and strong tug on his arm.  The torches and doors blur by, and soon, Matt and Nyma are at the end of the corridor where there is another heavy metal sliding door, which Nyma also unlocks.

“Nyma, seriously - I think this is a bad idea! I’m not used to being in trouble,” says Matt.

“Oh, for the love of-” and she pulls him through the door.  “Live a little, Matt. Do you want to be trapped inside a prison forever?”

The door Nyma had just unlocked leads into an empty chamber, in which there are two doors - one metal and one wooden door which was open, angled away from them, and had no lock.  Nyma opens the fourth heavy door they’ve seen today with one last keycard, and the door slides open to reveal the outside.  Matt all but stumbles outside, pulling Nyma with him.  

\--

“Oh my god,” Matt says, “fresh air!”  

Even though he experiences air and natural light just fine from within the prison walls, it’s somehow different being outside.  There are no walls confining him; just acres and acres of rocky land under his feet that seem to go on forever.  The sweat on his skin has dried in the cool atmosphere, and he no longer feels uncomfortable within his uniform like he usually is during work.Matt could get lost in the openness forever, but a tug at his arm gets his attention.  

“We have to go back,” she says.  “Work starts soon.”

 He nods, and the two of them walk back into the confines of the prison walls through the thick metal door, which closes behind them.  From this angle, Matt can see what was in the room behind the wooden door.

“That’s a library!  Nyma, there’s a library!” he says excitedly.  Then, his body slouches.  “There’s no time to check it out, is there?”

“Not if you don’t want to get caught sneaking out,” says Nyma, and they start walking back down the long, dark hallway with the doors.  Nyma unwraps her food bar and starts eating it, and Matt, seeing her, does the same.

“It sucks that we have to be back, but thank you for doing that,” says Matt as they approach the other end of the hallway, pushing through the suddenly stifling, viscous-feeling air that he dreaded to feel after being outside.

“You seemed a little uncomfortable.  I thought fresh air would be good for you, and it didn’t cost me anything to take you with me,” says Nyma. “Besides, I needed someone as a distraction in case a guard caught me trying to figure out an escape plan.”

“Wow,” says Matt, then stops to think.  “Nyma, we were  _ just  _ outside.  Why didn’t we just leave then?”

“I don’t know where the ships are,” says Nyma.  “I can’t leave without figuring out a way to get off-planet to the nearest transport centre.  Normally, I’d do this with Rolo, but he’s in a different prison and I don’t think he’s coming for me.  Once I’m free, I’ll have to rescue him.”

“Oh,” says Matt.  Nyma uses the keycards to unlock the sliding metal doors, and they’re in their designated part of the prison again.

\--

Soon, Matt and Nyma are back to work.  They sit at the mostly-silent Common table and work meticulously and slowly, listening the low buzz of conversation from the other tables.  Matt can’t stop thinking about how the air felt on his skin and how there was just so much more to see when there weren’t walls.  Being outside has almost made being stuck in prison seem worse.

Still, though.  Matt got to be outside.

It was a good laundry day.


	5. Matt Learns About the Prison

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to bring this up last chapter, but _Zarkonquerer: the Musical_ is absolutely inspired by the Ember Island Players! (It's also, to a lesser extent, inspired by _Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark_ and _A Very Potter Musical_.) Also, I really appreciate the comments being left on this fic; they're a massive self-esteem boost. I'm really happy to see there are people reading and enjoying the story. Thank you so much.  <3
> 
> Happy new year, everyone. :)

**_Matt’s Prison Log: Day 435_ **

_ My skin itches.  I want to go back outside! There’s so much to experience in the universe, and I want to document as much of it as I can. _

_ Maybe Nyma will take me with her. _

\--

“I’m going to escape too,” Matt declares one evening while he eats his dinner rations.

“Okay,” says Nyma.

They eat in silence for a while.

“Can you even pilot a ship?” says Nyma, breaking the silence once she scarfs down the last of her food bar.Matt rubs the back of his head sheepishly.  

“Sort of?  I have a basic understanding of how piloting works and I’m sure I can figure out mechanics, but I don’t have a lot of experience behind the wheel.  I... figured I’d leave with you?”

“Absolutely not!” exclaims Nyma.

“Wait, hear me out!” says Matt.  “I really have to find my dad and Shiro.  You understand what it’s like to lose family too.  I’m mainly a researcher, but I can work a computer in a pinch.  I’m good at understanding people and new places. I picked up Common pretty quickly, didn’t I?”

“One - did you miss the part where I speak seventeen languages? I don’t need you to translate anything for me.  Two - you’re actually so bad at Common!  You screw up the Druidic verb tenses and the Allenese ones all the time.”

“I thought I was getting pretty good,” says Matt, taken aback. “I haven’t had any trouble understanding you.”

“Yeah, because I still have this,” says Nyma, pulling down her trousers to reveal the translation collar that she had stolen during her first week of prison and that,  _ holy shit, she was supposed to give back ages ago! _

“Nyma!  You were supposed to give that back!” hisses Matt.

“I didn’t want to hear your broken Common!” she hisses back.  “But I will admit that you’ve gotten better.

“So... what do you say?  Can I come with you?” says Matt.  “I... after that day we went outside, I realise how much I miss freedom.”

“I’ll think about it,” says Nyma.  “Maybe if you were  _ less of a wimp  _ about doing things, like going outside, I’d be more inclined to take you with me.”

Matt  _ hmms _ and nods, suddenly absorbed by his thoughts.  He has an idea.

\--

The next day, Matt is up early.  That is to say, he’s up earlier than usual, and he’s already usually the first one awake.  He lightly shakes Nyma awake.

“Hey,” he whispers. “Where did you get the keycards that lead outside?”

“I still have it,” she groans, and reaches into her arm cavity to take out the keyring and shove it at him.  “Whaddya want to do with it?”

“There’s a  _ library _ !” he says excitedly, remembering to keep his voice down.  “Go back to sleep, it’s early.”

“‘Kay,” she mumbles, and rolls over.

\--

The restricted corridor seems longer than it was a few days ago, and Matt quietly walks through the hallway, carefully taking the same steps Nyma led him through the other day.  He’s suddenly more aware that he could get caught at any minute.  He pays greater attention to the doors along the corridors.  He isn’t tall enough to see in the windows, but he can see that the yellow-lit windows fluctuate and pulse light rhythmically, whereas the purple-lit windows are just lit steadily.  His blood pounds in his ears, but since he isn’t rushing through the corridor this time, Matt can hear faint echoes of hoarse screams and desperate shouts from inside the yellow-lit rooms.

Scuttering through the wooden door in the airlock at the end of the corridor, Matt stares in awe at the rows and rows of books, but he’s here on a mission.  The books here are mostly in Galra, but the shelves are labelled in both Galra and Common.  He quickly finds what he’s looking for - an atlas of the universe and a book written in Common about the history of Zarkon’s territories.  They’re both small books that he can fit under his shirt and sneak out.  He wants to stay and look more, but he needs to be back to grab breakfast before he is noticed missing.

\--

Nyma is still sleeping when Matt arrives back in his room to drop off his books in the camera’s blind spot before heading to the mess hall for breakfast.  He shakes her awake.  

“Hey.  You missed the shower window, but there’s still a little time for breakfast,” he says.

She stirs.  “I didn’t hear you wake up!” she says.  She yawns and stretches.

“Yes you did,” says Matt. “You gave me this.”  He hands the keyring back to her.

“I don’t remember this at all,” she says.  She takes the keyring and starts fidgeting with it, still bleary-eyed.

“I think you fell back asleep after,” says Matt.  “Anyway, I’m off to breakfast.  I’ll see you at work?”

“See you later,” says Nyma, noncommittally getting out of bed and looking for the uniform she discarded the night before.

“Later,” says Matt, and then he’s out the door.

\--

Matt actually doesn’t see Nyma at work because he is transferred away from the mechanics assembly line.  He is moved from the assembly line into the laundry room where he is by himself for a few hours.  His new job is to wash as many prisoners’ scrubs as possible, and he finally realises why laundry days are only once every two weeks.  They only have  one small washer and one dryer, and while the washer could fit probably three or four Matt-sized uniforms, some of the aliens are physically huge and their shirts and trousers have to be washed one article at a time.  Matt takes this opportunity to launder his dirty uniform first, change into it, and launder the uniform on his back after to add to the clean pile.

He must have missed Nyma when he goes back to his room to get his lunch rations, since there’s an empty food bar wrapper where the second set of rations usually are.  Usually, they head back together, but they didn’t do that today since Matt was working somewhere else.  On his way back to work, Matt smuggles Beezer into the laundry room under the waistband where his shirt is tucked into his trousers.

Matt keeps laundering uniforms until the end of the afternoon shift.  Because he works alone in the laundry room and doesn’t have much to do between moving uniforms in and out of the machines, he sits and surreptitiously reads the forum, keeping Beezer under a pile of dirty uniforms. 

\--

**HEADLINE: Voltron-themed terrorist destroys a public transport centre [The Nationalist]  
** [293 comments]

Comment from (anonymous):  
Inb4 Voltron is actually back

> Reply  **(anrypogi)** :  
>  i think you might actually be onto something  
>  like do you remember that time the empire put out that bounty for the “voltron-themed criminal” and then cancelled it  
>  they wouldnt do that for some small-time criminal and they def wouldnt take it back unless they caught em, which we would have heard about  
>  how long are media outlets going to deny that its actually voltron and not just some voltron-themed whackjobs  
>  hooooly shit this could be the sign of the first major rebellion since altea
> 
> _ [12 more comments; truncated] _
> 
> Reply  **(vrepitsa)** :  
>  Voltron is just a myth spread by early rebels!  There’s no proof it exists.  It only fuels crazy terrorists!! >:(
> 
> Reply  **(vantasy)** :  
>  MYTHS ARE OFTEN BASED IN SOME SEED OF TRUTH  
> 
> 
> Reply  **(v0r3tr0n)** :  
>  i mean,,, if voltron is back, that adds a whole new layer to the ending of zarkonquerer, which def hinted at zarkon and the dead altean king having a kid  
>  like what if voltrons pilot is zarkons kid  
>  “voltron,, i am your father!!!!”
> 
> Comment from **(10gcabin)** :  
>  voltron wouldn't be one person, but a crew.
> 
> Reply  **(anrypogi)** :  
>  **@v0r3tr0n  
>  ** go write a fanfic and stop spamming forum with your shitty headcanons
> 
> _ [4 more replies] _
> 
> _ [replies frozen] _

Comment from  **(stabbalicious)** :  
REMEMBER WHEN I SAID THAT PROPAGANDA WOULD BACKFIRE AND SOME TERRORIST WOULD DO THE THING  
I FUCKING CALLED IT

Comment from  **(10gcabin)** :  
voltron is definitely back.

> Reply  **(x4lurk0)** :  
>  How do you know?
> 
> Reply (anonymous):  
>  cabin loves to make unfounded claims; just ignore her. she’s probably another fangirl like voretron 
> 
> Reply  **(10gcabin)** :  
>  *him, actually.

\--

**HEADLINE: Ex-military whistleblower caught and imprisoned [The Nationalist]  
** [69 comments]  


Comment from (anonymous):  
EYYY GOT EM

> Reply (anonymous):  
>  EYYY GOT EM  
> 
> 
> Reply (anonymous):  
>  EYYY GOT EM
> 
> Reply  **(stabbilicious)** :  
>  EYYY GOT EM
> 
> _ [24 more replies; truncated] _
> 
> Reply  **(anrypogi)** :  
>  29 comments of EYYY GOT EM? really? (also  **@10gcabin** can you send me those leaks again?  i had to wipe my copy to go through galra security)
> 
> Reply  **(vrepitsa)** :  
>  EYYY GOT EM

Comment from (anonymous):  
does **@00x0E2** even have a name?

> Reply (anonymous):  
>  Nope.

\--

**HEADLINE: Planet Carnation officially joins the Galra Empire  
** [76 comments]

Comment from (anonymous):  
What a great decision it was to hide out there,  **@00xE02** .

\--

**HEADLINE: Voltron action figures from** **_Zarkonquerer_ ** **line recalled because of material defect [Empire News]  
** [45 comments]

> Comment from  **(stabbalicious)** :  
>  hahahaha propaganda gone wrong
> 
> Reply (anonymous):  
>  I think that Voltron really is back and they’re trying to remove Voltron icons as much as they can to prevent Voltron idolatry, actually!
> 
> Reply  **(stabbalicious)** :  
>  shhhh  
>  #theytried

Comment from  **(10gcabin)** :  
so... does anyone have a Voltron action figure they no longer want?  I’d be happy to take it off ur hands (though I’m a bit of a nomad so I’ll have to meet u when we’re in the same star system).

> Reply (anonymous):  
>  dId you not see the part where the entire chat, you included, thought the _Zarkonquerer_ figures were stupid?

\--

The work day is quickly over, and Matt heads back to his cell with Beezer tucked back under his shirt.  

“Hey, Nyma,” he calls out, “I-”

Matt stops mid-step.  At the door is a Galra guard, giving someone the welcome-to-prison speech.  On the cot opposite from his sits not the cellmate that he’s used to, but a character who almost looks human with her dark hair, brown eyes, and brownish flesh. However,  she seems to emit a faint violet glow from underneath her skin.

“Where’s Nyma?” he asks the guard.

“She was caught with contraband and taken to an isolation chamber,” says the guard.  “We found stolen technology on her person and books in this room.”  

The guard leans closer, and Matt’s mind starts whirring.  He is partly responsible for this - he broke into the restricted area and stole books and brought them back to their room, and now Nyma was in one of the rooms in the darkened corridor, possibly being tortured.  

“I hope you weren’t aware of this, or there will be trouble for you too,” the guard sneers before backing up and standing diplomatically.

“N-no, of course not!” says Matt nervously, inching away from the guard, suddenly very aware of Beezer tucked into his belt. “How long is she in isolation for?”

“Indefinitely,” says the guard.  “Meet your new cellmate, prisoner.”

Matt’s new cellmate scoots back on the cot, pressing her spine against the wall.  She looks at him with wide eyes, clearly shaken but trying to put on a brave face.  

“Hello,” she says.


	6. Matt Learns About Initiative

**_Matt’s Prison Log: Day 437 (1 day since Nyma was taken to isolation)_ **

_Nyma is in isolation, which I think is that hallway we were in.  It sounds legitimately torturous in there. There goes prison break, I guess._

_With Nyma gone, I have a new cellmate. Her name is Sunny and she’s a diplomat from Carnation, a magic-based planet previously under civil war that recently came to be under Galra rule._

_Also, I’ve been moved permanently to the laundry room now, so I moved Beezer there too, in a hidden spot, because work is flipping boring!_

_I still want to be outside._

_\--_

**_Matt’s Prison Log: Day 438 (1 day since Sunny’s arrival)_ **

_Sunny keeps rummaging through my side of the room looking for something to potentially unlock her magic-dampening cuffs.  She found the cavity in the wall by my bed and has demanded that we switch beds so she could hide the knick-knacks she keeps finding around the prison, which makes me glad I moved Beezer.  No offense (full offense), but I can’t believe she’s a diplomat._

_\--_

**_Matt’s Prison Log: Day 439_ **

_I didn’t get lunch or dinner rations today, and I’m not sure why.  I asked Sentry - he’s the guard assigned to this section - about it, and he shrugged and gave me one of his food bars.  I learned that prison guard rations taste TERRIBLE.  They also seem to contain some sort of stimulant - I felt like I had chugged a pint of espresso._

\--

**_Matt’s Prison Log: Day 440_ **

_Didn’t get lunch or dinner rations today either; asked Sentry about it again.  He gave me one of his food bars again for lunch, but I said no for dinner because the stimulant was doing bad things for my ability to sleep._

_The forum blew up today.  Voltron (or the Voltron-themed terrorist) straight-up trashed the east half of an agricultural planet. I understand rebellion - I hate the Empire too - but destroying what is probably a huge source of food seems to be a bad idea._

_I would absolutely welcome Voltron coming here and trashing the prison walls._

\--

**_Matt’s Prison Log: Day 441_ **

_Laundry room is lonely.  I didn’t have friends in the factory either because of the whole language barrier thing (and then the pretending-to-have-a-language-barrier thing), but there was at least the presence of other people.  In the laundry room, all I have are the presence of other people’s clothes and Beezer, who’s great but not the same._

_Naturally, when I get bored, I start experimenting to make the washing machine more efficient.  A change of clothes every two weeks is absolutely_ not _enough.  I thought I was doing pretty good for someone with no hardware tools other than my bare hands._

_And then the washing machine started spitting water at me, so I unplugged the entire operation._

\--

**_Matt’s Prison Log: Day 442_ **

_So I left for lunch early today to investigate why the hell the prison wasn’t giving me food, and it turns out that Sunny has been stealing it - and she didn’t even know!  Her energy levels are low with her magic-dampening cuffs, and she’s hungry, so she assumed both food bars were just for her.  She’d already started into mine so I let her finish my lunch rations, but I was hungry too so I insisted on eating my dinner rations myself._

_Sentry knocked on the door later after dinner and asked if I was doing okay for food, since I hadn’t approached her about lunch._

_“I’m doing okay now,” I said, “but my cellmate hasn’t been getting her appropriate rations.  She needs more energy because she’s wearing magic-dampening cuffs.You may have noticed that she’s less productive at work than she should be.”_

_Sentry told me he would talk to rations services.  I decided to push it._

_“Wait, there’s more,” I said. “The washing machine in the laundry room is broken.  It needs to be fixed or I can’t work tomorrow.”_

_Sentry nodded and said he would take care of it._

\--

**_Matt’s Prison Log: Day 443_ **

_Apparently, by “take care of it”, Sentry meant a public announcement that laundry would be a week late because_ someone _(the head of occupation services pointed straight at me, and everyone just turned and stared) fucked up the machines.  Then, after breakfast, I was handed a toolbox and a manual on how the washing machine worked, and I fixed the damn machine that I broke myself._

_Later, I swapped food bars with Sentry.  He wanted to try the prison food, which he also thought was okay in comparison to guard food.  In what world is prison food better than any other food?_

_According to a denizen of the agriculture planet that Voltron totalled, a representative of Voltron locally apologised for what was supposed to be field test (putting emphasis on_ field _, haha) and compensated for the destruction._

_Sunny and I are getting along better now that she’s getting the food she needs, but ugh. I still want out and I still need to find my dad and Shiro and - dare I say it - I think I miss Nyma._

\--

**_Matt’s Prison Log: Day 444_ **

_Holy shit. Someone got broken out of prison today._

\--

The prisoners are having breakfast when suddenly, an alien that looks like an anthropomorphic goat phases through the ceiling and floats in midair.  (She’s twice the size of Matt - twice the size of _Shiro_ , even.  Matt doesn’t know why he’s surprised at the alien’s size, though, since he launders at least two sets of clothes roughly the size of this guy every day.)  The alien scans the room, finds a reptilian-looking alien twice the size of _her_ , floats toward and lifts up said reptilian-looking alien, and then floats up and phases both her and the prisoner out of the prison through ceiling from where she came.

The mess hall bursts into pandemonium.  People start yelling.  Variants of _“Holy shit, did you see that?_ ” and “ _WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED_ ” start being tossed around the room, and the guards have to sound an air rifle to get the prisoners to calm down.

Matt has stars in his eyes, because one moment, that reptilian alien was a prisoner just like him, and the next, they were _free_.  Just like that, in less than thirty seconds.  Matt wanted that.

Beside him, Sunny also has stars in her eyes, but those stars are twinkling from unshed tears.

“Holy shit,” says Matt, echoing the earlier chaos.  He turns to Sunny.  “Do you think that’s ever going to happen for me?”  He already knows the answer, but he can’t help wishing that somebody - anybody - would blast down these walls and whisk Matt out of prison.

“Do you have anyone who would come for you?” asks Sunny.

“The only people that might think I’m still alive are also in prison,” Matt admits.  “I just - I wanted to have hope for a little bit, you know?”

“Then _that’s a stupid fucking question_ , isn’t it?” snaps Sunny angrily, tears suddenly rolling down her face.  “And hope is stupid too.  Nobody’s coming to save you. If you want out, you have to do it on your own.”

“Well, I don’t see you trying to escape!” Matt snaps back.  “What, are you so sure that a team of bodyguards will  come rescue you that you don’t even need to think about hope?”

Sunny starts sobbing and hiccupping.  

“No,” she cries as she lays her head down into her arms, shoulders wracked with shaky sobs.  “Because _rescue is never going to happen for me either_.”

\--

At work, Matt makes quick work of loading clothes into the newly repaired machine.  While the machine is running, Matt sits with a pile of clothes in his lap, pulls out Beezer, lays him under the clothing pile, and pulls up the forum.  He scrolls through pages and pages of headlines, finally stopping at the one he’s looking for from a few weeks ago.

 **HEADLINE: Ex-military whistleblower escapes containment; wanted for GAC [The Nationalist]  
** [303 comments]

Comment from **(00x0E2)** :  
I have partial floor plans for the command centre and more information about quintessence.  Uploaded here [URL].

> _[3 replies; truncated]_
> 
> Reply from **(00x0E2)** :  
>  Message me for the new information.  Regrettably, I no longer have a copy of the original leaks.
> 
> Reply from **(10gcabin)** :  
>  messaged, x0E.  I have a (marked-up) copy of the original leaks if u want them.

Matt quickly makes an account on the site, opens a private message to 10gcabin, and starts writing.

 **Whistleblower Leaks  
** **[leiasolo == > 10gcabin]**

> Hey 10gcabin!
> 
> A few weeks ago on the forum, you said you have a copy of x0E’s leaks with information about prison rosters and floor plans.  If you still have the documents, could you send me a copy?
> 
> Thanks,  
>  leiasolo

“Beezer, can you proofread the message for me and let me know if he replies?” Matt asks .  As an affirmative, the Common glyphs that Matt has typed start slightly rearranging themselves.

\--

Matt takes Beezer back to his room that night under his clothes, not willing to miss a reply from the forum user.  While eating in silence across from Sunny, Matt feels Beezer vibrate-purr, indicating a response, but he has to wait to open it.  Right after he eats, Matt gets into bed early without taking his prison scrubs off, Beezer’s compact form clutched tight against his body.

It’s not shower night in his routine, but even if it was, Matt would have skipped it because he had nowhere to stash Beezer except for under his clothes.  It is, however, shower night for Sunny, because soon after Matt gets into bed, Sunny leaves the room with her toiletries.  Matt quickly ducks under the covers and opens the reply.

 **Re: Whistleblower Leaks  
** **[leiasolo == > 10gcabin]**

> hey,
> 
> here are all the documents: [URL]; youll have to open them quickly because Galra monitors will take this down sooner or later.
> 
> good luck,
> 
> cabin.

Matt opens the documents and flips through the pages, some of which are, sure enough, marked up with lots of arrows and highlights and circles in red.  There’s Galra text as well, but Beezer quickly translates that to Common text as Matt scrolls.  When he gets to the page with the layout that matches what he knows about his prison, he peers at the map and the guards roster.  The roster matches what Matt is familiar with, and Matt examines the areas of the map that are restricted to him, including a path to the hangar with ships that he’d never seen before and seventeen isolation rooms in the corridor that lead outside.

Sunny steps back into the room, and Matt pokes his face out from under the covers, shoving Beezer under his uniform.

“Hey,” says Matt to her the first time since breakfast.

“Hi,” says Sunny. She pauses and takes a breath.  “Look, I’m sorry about what I said this morning.”

“Don’t worry about it,” says Matt.  “You were right, and being in here is frustrating.  No hard feelings.”

“Okay then,” says Sunny, climbing into her own bed and stashing a necklace (where even did she get that?) into the wall cavity.  “No hard feelings, then.”

Matt _mhmms_ an affirmative, snuggling deeper into his covers and clutching at Beezer, a warm presence against his skin.  He hears Sentry’s footsteps coming down the halls, and he falls asleep thinking about the route he’s going to take for escape.

\--

The next morning, Matt gets up early again and immediately tiptoes across the hall toward Sentry, who is lightly dozing away in his guard’s chair.  

“Sorry, Sentry,” whispers Matt, lifting a food bar and the ring of keycards from Sentry’s belt, which he stashes in his shirt.


	7. Matt Learns About Freedom

**_Matt’s Prison Log: Day 445 (1 day since that massively public mass hall prison break)_ **

_During my first week of knowing Nyma a month and a half ago, I told her that I do have a family that I’d like to see again when I’m not in prison._

_It’s time to make that happen._

\--

It’s early - really early.  There are supposed to be guard patrols at this time, but it seems like the guards have all fallen asleep.  The daylight star has barely just begun to peek over the horizon through the window in the mess hall, where Matt is.  The kitchen staff haven't even started breakfast yet, which is perfect.  Pausing for a minute, Matt stares at the sunrise, just in case he gets caught and he can never see the outside again.

Matt gets up and unlocks the kitchen door with a card from the keyring.  He turns on all the heat appliances: all seven stovetops in their heptagon shape, both ovens, and the microwave.  (He puts a metal plate in the microwave first.)  Then, he goes to the laundry room and picks up a stash of clothes and a set of heavy-duty bolt cutters.  ( _If I’m doing this, I’m going to be genre-savvy_ , he thinks.)  He goes back to the kitchen, throws the scrubs on the stovetop, throws some sort of oil or fat on the scrubs, and leaves when he starts sees the pile burst into flames.

From there, he heads to the restricted corridor.  The daylight star is a little higher in the horizon now, and Matt sees a prisoner who seems to have just woken up.  He freezes when she waves at him.

“Good morning,” says the woman.  He recognises her as one of the kitchen staff.  Being usually the earliest person to breakfast, she clearly recognises him too.  “Enjoying the sunrise?”

“Uh,” says Matt, reaching back to rub the back of his neck and promptly smacking himself with the bolt cutters.  He chuckles nervously.  “I think I messed something up in the laundry room yesterday and wanted to fix it before anyone found out and we’re yet another week late for fresh clothes.”

She laughs, a hearty boom reverberating in Matt’s ears.  “Man, of course you would!  I’m off to shower before I make breakfast.  See you in a bit.”

“Yeah, see you soon,” says Matt, hurrying away.

\--

Matt fumbles through opening both heavy corridor doors, thankfully finding the correct keycard fairly quickly, and rushes across the hall to open both doors leading outside as well.  A soft wind blows through the corridor into the main area of the prison, fluttering through Matt’s hair.  All is going to plan, and Matt goes to open the door to the room that Nyma is in to free the pilot and --

Shit, he doesn’t know which room she’s in.

 _Fuck it_ , he decides. “Nyma!” he yells, because; it’s going to happen any minute now.  And right on cue, the fire alarm goes off.

The fire alarm isn’t actually very loud in the soundproof hallway, but with the doors to the main prison area open, the sound permeates through and rings across the corridor.  The doors to every single isolated cell unlocks, and slowly, one door cracks open and a furry head tentatively pokes through.

At the other side of the corridor in the main prison area, there are prisoners flitting about in a frenzy as the alarm blares.  Then, someone sees the light at the end of the hallway leading outside.  There are supposed to be protocols for where everyone goes when the fire alarm goes off, but...

“This way!” Matt yells at the other prisoners. Upon  seeing another prisoner in the hallway, the entire war prison collective pushes through the thin corridor.  As the mass fills the hallway, the prisoners in the isolation chambers also file out from their rooms into the hallway, and then outside.  Matt ends up pressed against the wall, eyes furiously scanning the crowd.  There’s someone casually crowdsurfing and someone else tossing their shirt in the air.

But Nyma isn’t there.

In a moment, the crowd has completely evacuated outside, and in the next, there are guards outside, dealing with the rioting prisoners.  That second moment was when Matt saw the first door in the hallway - unlocked and barely ajar, but not open.  Matt pushes it open slightly.

“Nyma?” he calls.  When he sees her form on the bed, he pushes the door open further. “What happened to you?”

“Oh, you know.  Consequences for disobedience,” she says, staring up at the ceiling.  There are blue bruises speckled across her body and her normally flaxen skin is ash-toned.  Then, she actually tilts her head up.  “Matt?” she asks.  

“Come on,” says Matt, “we’re getting out of here.”  

He rushes over to tug on her arm, but it weighs itself down against his grip.

“I literally can’t move my legs,” she says.  “They gave me some sort of paralytic.”

Matt huffs, pushes one arm behind her back and the other under her legs, and lifts.

And then he promptly drops her, and she hits the bed again with a _thud_.

“Wow, seriously?” she says.  “That hurt!”

“Well, I’m sorry I haven’t been working out _in prison_!” he huffs.  He hauls her up over right shoulder in a fireman’s carry with her face to his chest and her waist over his shoulder instead, and Nyma grips his shirt with the little movement she can make with her arms.  He lifts her up and starts running toward the blare of the fire alarm.

\--

Matt is out of the corridor and in the main prison area when he runs into Sentry.

“Where are you going?” asks Sentry, taking note Nyma draped over his right shoulder and the bolt cutters in his left hand.

“We’re supposed to head to the fire chamber if the alarm goes off, right?” he says nervously.

“You are,” says Sentry.  “Why are you carrying another prisoner and those?” He waves his arm up and down.

“Um-” says Matt.  He doesn’t have to finish that sentence, though, because suddenly the bolt cutters are being ripped from his hand and flung through the air, hitting Sentry in the face and knocking him unconscious.  Matt glares down his chest at Nyma.  “You didn’t have to do that!”

“Just keep going!  Do you even know where we’re going?” she asks .

“Uh, _yes_ ,” says Matt, picking the bolt cutters back up.  He starts running again, following the path he had mapped out in his head. “I’m not a complete idiot.”

“You were carrying a pair of bolt-cutters for no good reason!”

“I had a very good reason!”  

They go through the kitchen and through a side door leading to another dimly-lit corridor.  There are no room doors here.

“What was your reason?”

“I was being _genre-savvy!_ ”  They turn left when the hallway offers a left turn.

“That’s a terrible reason to carry a suspicious weapon!”

“Not any more than carrying an actual person!  And clearly it worked!”  They turn right, this time at a crossroads.

“But really, where _are_ we going?” asks Nyma as they keep moving down this hallway.

“There should be a hangar coming up... just about now,” says Matt, making one last left turn and stopping at a huge door.  To the left of the door, there’s an electronic lock mechanism.  Matt clumsily flips through the keycards, trying each one in search of the one that will open the door.

“Oh my god,” says Nyma, and she smashes the card reader with the bolt cutters.  The door opens.

“I told you the bolt cutters would come in handy,” says Matt.

\--

“So, which ship do we hijack?” asks Matt.

There’s a huge purple ship sitting in the middle of the hangar, presumably for prisoner transport, and several smaller ships parked against the wall that are  also mostly purple.  A couple of unmarked starkly grey ships with silver embellishments stand out from the rest

“That one,” Nyma says, pointing at the second smallest of the grey ships.  “It’ll be notable as a spy ship, so we’ll have to repaint it to look less conspicuously inconspicuous and get rid of any connections to the command centre, but it’s not purple and it’ll seat three.”

“Okay,” says Matt, and he walks into the cockpit, plopping Nyma into the pilot’s seat and sitting in the seat on her right.

“Matt,” says Nyma, “you realise I can’t pilot this thing, right?  I need my legs for that.”

“...Oh,” he replies.  “Great escape plan, Matt.”  He hits his head against the dashboard.  “And we were _so close_.”

“We’re still close!” says Nyma firmly. “You’re just going to have to do it.”

“ _What the fuck,_ ” says Matt.  “I’m not a pilot! That’s entirely why I brought you here!”

From under his shirt, Beezer vibrates once.  Matt pulls him out through the collar.  “Beezer, can you pilot us away?” he says.

“You brought Beezer!” Nyma says delightedly.  “He didn’t have the necessary ports in his last body, but you can connect him to the dashboard, he _can_ get us out into space!”

Beezer as a tablet, in fact, does have the correct ports to connect to the ship dashboard, and as Matt plugs him in, the entire ship’s interior lights up.  Lamps brighten the room, and little light spots blink up in front of Matt.  Nyma is  similarly illuminated by the twinkling dashboard lights.  Above him, Matt can hear and see the hangar ceiling open. He feels himself rise up into the air.

As Beezer pilots the ship up at increasing speeds, Matt looks out the window at the prison planet.  It gets smaller and smaller as the ship gets higher and higher in the atmosphere, but he can still see all the prisoners being herded back inside by a wall of guards wielding blasters and energy shields.

\--

 **HEADLINE: Two war criminals escape as fire spreads across Planetentiary 3-55; no photos available [The Nationalist]  
** [257 comments]

Comment from **(6vaginas)** :  
As a former prisoner of the Galra empire, I can only say this is what they get for not hiring a mug shot photographer.  SUCKS TO SUCK, EMPIRE.

\--

_**END OF ACT I. PRISON** _


	8. Interlude: Matt Learns About Forum User 10gcabin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is unbeta'd.

**Re: Whistleblower Leaks  
** **[leiasolo == > 10gcabin]**

> Thanks for these!  Do you need anything from me in return? I notice you’ve marked up the entry points on some of the floor plans.
> 
> leiasolo ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

**Re: Whistleblower Leaks  
** **[10gcabin == > leiasolo]**

> no problem. information is important. what I’m doing rn is kind of classified tho, so I can’t rly ask for help.  I have to work through these maps with my team.
> 
> cabin.
> 
> p.s. what the fuck is that in your signature

**Re: Whistleblower Leaks  
** **[leiasolo == > 10gcabin]**

> It’s all good.
> 
> (Most of these floor plans have a transport hub if you’ve already got a vehicle and a hangar if you don’t.  If not that, they’ll have somewhere to toss garbage.  Pulling the fire alarm also works wonders.  Just saying.)
> 
> P.S. It’s a face made from text!  I’ve actually got a ridiculous amount of spare time right now, so I’m just making myself a catalogue of emoticons using Galra logographs.

**Re: Whistleblower Leaks  
** **[10gcabin == > leiasolo]**

> leia. thanks, but seriously, don’t help.
> 
> cabin.
> 
> p.s. I don’t know what ur face looks like but my face does not look like that.

**Re: Whistleblower Leaks  
** **[leiasolo == > 10gcabin]**

> Alright, not helping it is.  Let me know if you change your mind.
> 
> P.S. Fuck you man; [ my boyfriend makes that face when he’s having a good time ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXhMg3j2SZQ&ab_channel=ElliOtter).
> 
> ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

**wow tmi  
** **[10gcabin == > leiasolo]**

> why would u send me ur bf’s o-face?.

**YOU PIECE OF SHIT DO YOU WANT TO GO?  
** **[leiasolo == > 10gcabin]**

> _IT’S A GENERAL EXPRESSION OF HAPPINESS, CABIN_.

**YES. go where?  
** **[10gcabin == > leiasolo]**

> that must be some shitty sex you’re having there.

**Not on a date, that’s for sure. >:(  
** **[leiasolo == > 10gcabin]**

> We’re not actually having sex; he’s been under Galra capture for like a year.  You insensitive dick.

**can we take this to instant messenger?  
** **[10gcabin == > leiasolo]**

> shit dude I’m sorry.  i know how it is; my bf was also imprisoned by the galra.

\--

 **leiasolo:** Hey cabin!

 **10gcabin:** sup leia

 **10gcabin:** (no hard feelings about the o-face thing right? my crewmate keeps telling me I’m bad at being sensitive but he’s also kind of a dick so)

 **leiasolo:** Nah dw about it; I was being a shithead

 **leiasolo:** Here’s to Galra-captured boyfriends though right? *clinks glass*

 **10gcabin:** I mean hes not a prisoner anymore and also hes my ex now but yeah

 **10gcabin:** who the hell tells u he loves u

 **10gcabin:** then breaks up with you right after that, right before he goes on a deep space mission

 **10gcabin:** then starts boning his crewmate wHILE UNder galra capture

 **10gcabin:** then escapes from galra capture and drags me n like eleventy other pilots around to look for his new bf

 **10gcabin:** whos also a galra empire war prisoner so i cant even hate him!

 **10gcabin:** wait shit that was too much information that I shared fuck fuck fuck

 **leiasolo:** No questions asked!  Offer to help is still open, but we can pretend that last message never happened

 **10gcabin:** thanks

 **leiasolo:** Eleventy is a lot of pilots to look for one war prisoner, though. :O

 **10gcabin:** eleventy pilots, five pilots, wahtever. i was a hermit for like a year; any number more than one is a lot of pilots

 **10gcabin:** (i mean we do other things other than stalk prison docs and it’s for a good cause but IT HURTS BEING AROUND HIM OKAY)

 **10gcabin:** fuck my ex he’s suck a dick but also such a good fucking person why do i love him

 **10gcabin:** *clinks glass*

 **10gcabin:** i maaaaaaaaay have picked up a mug of nunvill instead of coffee just now and i thiiiiiiiink its kickin in

 **10gcabin:** im so sorry i just met you and started rambling about my life

 **leiasolo:** I have no idea what that keysmash was

 **leiasolo:** And the situation with your ex sucks, dude. I’m sorry

 **10gcabin:** ur not actually like a secret internet galra patrol right? like im p sure vrepitsa is out to get me but im p mobile so he’s gonna have a tough time finding my location

 **10gcabin:** but talking to galra military like this would be rly bad for me n my crew

 **leiasolo:** No, I’m not Galra! I actually, uh, just broke out of prison.

 **leiasolo:** This link:  << **HEADLINE: Two war criminals escape as fire spreads across Planetentiary 3-55; no photos available [The Nationalist]** >> is me.  Those floor plans you sent were really helpful!

 **10gcabin:** oh shit bro that’s pretty hardcore

 **10gcabin:** what’s next now that ur out?

 **leiasolo:** I broke out because I realised I wanted to see my family again, so.  That.  Plus, studying and enjoying the universe. :D

 **10gcabin:** im sure they’ll be happy to see you

 **leiasolo:** My dad’s also in war prison somewhere and my home planet is kind of a ways away, but. I’ll get there.

 **10gcabin:** oh

 **10gcabin:** then

 **10gcabin:** u already know this better than me but

 **10gcabin:** galra prisons are p harsh

 **10gcabin:** there’s... a good chance your dad is dead :<

 **leiasolo:** Yeah. :/

 **leiasolo:** But you’re out there looking for a man in jail too, and I can’t just give up on my family like that.

 **10gcabin:** the guy’s sister is also on board, and family is important

 **10gcabin:** whatever kind of family you have

 **10gcabin:** and im def not gonna tell them no, but i’m a realistic guy and i think it’s important to think of all the possibilities

 **10gcabin:** just saying

 **leiasolo:** Wow, that got heavy fast.

 **leiasolo:** ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

 **10gcabin:** sorry

 **leiasolo:** Fuck the Galra? Fuck the Galra!

 **10gcabin:** fcuiuuuuuuk the galra!

 **10gcabin:** but non-sexually

 **10gcabin:** I don’t ever want to see u make that ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ face with a galra!

 **leiasolo:** I wouldn’t let you watch >:(

 **leiasolo:** Why do you keep insisting that ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ is an o-face anyway?

 **10gcabin:** well

 **10gcabin:** my bf may or may not

 **10gcabin:** also make that face when he comes

 **10gcabin:** FUCK

 **10gcabin:** I MEANT MY EX

 **10gcabin:** clearly im still drunk

 **leiasolo:** *pat pat*

 **leiasolo:** ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The curtains fall. Welcome to two-thirds of the OT3. :3c
> 
> You know that feeling you get when you start a project SO MUCH STEAM, but as you continue on, you start to lose steam? That's me, except for my entire interest in Voltron right now. The Voltron fires are burning low, my dudes. That January 20th completion deadline is most likely not happening. I'm really sorry. D: That said, this fic will absolutely be completed! I've made it too far and plotted out too much to give it up. I don't like leaving things unfinished. It'll happen, I promise.
> 
> My agreement with Kat is that I would send her stuff to beta one act at a time, so I haven't sent any of Act II to her yet. I pushed out this interlude unbeta'd because I wanted it as a thing to follow the end of Act I. Act II is going to be chapters 9-13 (9-11 written), followed by a two-part interlude of chapters 14-15 (15 written). I'm sitting at 23K words right now, and I'm hoping I can get at least Act II out before season 2? If not, then I'm hoping season 2 will relight the Voltron fire inside me and I'll be doubly down to write again - even if I do have to ignore canon Matt and Nyma characterisations (or edit to match, if possible). :)
> 
> Also, the winter semester starts for me this upcoming Monday, though that doesn't necessarily mean less time for writing. Just saying.
> 
> [The readership for this fic isn't huge, but if anyone is interested, this is where I shitpost. :D](https://dylogger.tumblr.com/) Even though I am always cringing at myself, in the interest of keeping myself accountable (and the ability to reply to comments), I'm deanoning.


End file.
